Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!mp.cs.niu.edu!bennett From: bennett@mp.cs.niu.edu (Scott Bennett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: SLIP from next.com Message-ID: <1991Feb19.223641.17734@mp.cs.niu.edu> Date: 19 Feb 91 22:36:41 GMT References: < > Organization: Northern Illinois University Lines: 78 In article scott@erick.gac.edu (Scott Hess) writes: >In article , bob@MorningStar.Com (Bob Sutterfield) writes: > > In article <5231@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> news@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU > > (Remote news user) writes: > > Er folks, it is really uncool to go onto a machine and grab stuff > > off unless invited to and then advertise it to the world. It will > > make NeXT more paranoid about how it deals with distributing of > > software. Regardless of legal issues, it is a questionable > > practice. Pascal, please spare us your attempt to place a chill on anonymous ftp distribution of material. I haven't seen any postings from next.com asking anybody to destroy material ftp'ed from their system. If you have seen such, please send me a copy or repost it here. > > > > If something is confidential then it shouldn't be put in an anonymous > > FTP area. If something is accessible via anonymous FTP then it is > > generally and reasonably assumed to be freely redistributable under > > the terms of any attached copyrights. > > > > If NeXT or any other company gets paranoid about normal and expected > > behavior in a given culture, then they should spend more time learning > > what's normal before trying to join that community. > >The site in question is a private site made availiable for certain >NeXT-internal stuff that it would be easier to let people ftp >than to mail it to all field personnel and campus consultants. As If the material is to be made available to a specific and exclusive group of people, then each of those people should be given a loginid so that their ftp session can be validated with their password. Each of those loginids should also be in a group. The directories and files that are to be restricted should be in the same group and the permissions set to allow access to the group while excluding "others". There is nothing new in all this. It is as old as the ftp(1) utility and the BSD networking code. It is also elementary UNIX security. >such, it's a service NeXT provides, albeit indirectly, so that >things can be done. If they are forced to remove it, it hampers >our ability to help you, and thus gets you in the end. > >I think the generally accepted etiquette is that if someone makes something >availiable _and_then_invites_people_to_access_it_, then they should >expect you to come get it. See my comments above. When directories and other files are made accessible via *anonymous* ftp, the invitation is implied and *assumed*. This is consistent with the UNIX philosophy of file permissions as well. > >Just because people leave their doors unlocked does not mean it >is "normal and expected" behaviour to walk in and steal their >silver dinner set. 'Nuff said. I'd be willing to bet that nothing was stolen. If we were to examine that directory immediately after the event in question, we would almost certainly find that everything was still there. > >Later, >-- >scott hess scott@gac.edu >Independent NeXT Developer GAC Undergrad > >"Tried anarchy, once. Found it had too many constraints . . ." >"Buy `Sweat 'n wit '2 Live Crew'`, a new weight loss program by >Richard Simmons . . ." Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG Systems Programming Northern Illinois University DeKalb, Illinois 60115 ********************************************************************** * Internet: bennett@cs.niu.edu * * BITNET: A01SJB1@NIU * *--------------------------------------------------------------------* * "WAR is the HEALTH of the STATE" --Albert Jay Nock (I think:-) * **********************************************************************